As a young girl, she was flung between states, and even countries, before she completed her education. She took her first steps in a West Bengal kindergarten. And went on to study in five schools, including one in Saudi Arabia where she had to wear a headscarf.
Any other child may have been traumatised by the need to adjust to new cultures and people every few years. But not author Jyothi Menon. Menon, a qualified engineer, turned to human relations — a term she prefers to human resources — because of her passion for people.
Her latest work, The Angel of God, was released in Chennai on Friday.
She says if the child is a keen observer, her canvas will have large sprinklings of various colours that may find an expression in art form.
She found in poems the medium to paint her thoughts, and even earned a fellowship of the World Poetry Roundtable as a student. However, her first three published works were non-fiction books on human-relations — The power of Human Relations (2004), Brand-Wise (2005) and Me, a Winner (2006) — and the fourth a novel.
“When Pearson (publishers) approached me, I was surprised as I am not an MBA from any top business school, but accepted the offer.” That was The power of Human Relations, with a foreword by Nasscom president Kiran Karnik. As a result of this, The Angel of God, which had been conceived by then, had to take a backseat with only the research going on for it.
A letter from the then president APJ Abdul Kalam impressed with the statement "creating a brand of an organisation" in her book led to her second work. “We have framed that letter from the president and it remains a prized possession for us,” she says with excitement.
Soon within three years, she had brought out three books, all without taking any break from her hectic schedule as an HR manager, even as the research for the novel continued.
“Writing is something I always did and enjoyed, so it was not very difficult,” she says.
Now finally, The Angel of God has been delivered. Though Jyothi says she worked on the novel for seven years, it is also a painting of her observation of the places she had visited and is influenced by the events witnessed by her. But the book is more about transformation in life and the different masks people wear and the angel inside everyone.
She tries to clear the air that though the novel revolves around crime and the central character Moosa Bhai is a criminal, this is not about crime or bloodshed.
One reason the story involves the life in Mumbai is “during the Mumbai riots, (she) was struck up on the way to the city traveling from Pune, during college days”. Her husband, Bobby had also witnessed the riots. So the criminal world has been used only as a background and also to underscore better the idea that everyone has several faces and can be an instrument in transforming others lives.
The three characters -- Moosa, Bhaskaran and Abubacker — also show different kinds of lives and their influence on others. And to nail home the point, the book cover has an illustration of a blood soaked umbrella with blood dripping and three persons in the background.
However, she quickly adds that the book neither tries to glorify crime nor justify it. Also the story is not spiritual or religious, and just stresses only on the transformation of lives and different masks people wear.
So, when asked how she managed to come out with books without taking breaks, the mother of an eight-year-old girl says, as if quoting from her book, “There are different hats to wear and one does not come in the way of the other. We just have to find time.” Certainly, since she is already working on her next two books, one of them about a story of a goldfish.
Read the story on Sify.com
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